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09-07-2011, 05:46 PM
#17
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Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Boerne, Texas
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Although new to this forum, our 2011 Cayenne finally arrived last December, July 28 to Dec 21 is quite a long wait. Its the base model with 6-speed manual, and a few things to make it a useful tool in the out back.
This proverbial right tail light issue struck last week, or earlier, don't really know how long the tail light has been on the blink. After reading some of the above post, I pulled the fuse, but no obvious issue there, when the fuse was replaced, the right tail light would work fine, until I hit the brake pedal.
I noticed that the fuse was only being scored by its holding device on one side, so I went back in and tightened the teeth that grab the fuse so that it provided better contact. I then went into the compartment behind that tail light and removed the ground wires, polished everything up bright, even shaved off some of the plastic fitting that sets against the body to hold the two ground connectors in a separated fashion. You'll notice this if you pay attention to the details at this connection. The plastic base seemed a bit thick, and could have been keeping the anchor nut from making a better contact.
Testing the right tail light again produced the shame results as above. Light shines when headlight are manually lit, but goes dead after hitting the brake pedal. Soooooo, we shut everything down and called it a day.
Next morning, we're having our first cool front of the season here in south Texas, I'm up early to take the Cayenne in for service, fix the tail light. What do ya know, it works fine. Worked fine all the way to the dealer, maybe 50 miles from the house.
Checking the data storage device in the onboard computer, there was no indication that the system had ever noticed the failed tail light. Well, the dealer changed out the two rear tail light assemblies anyway.
Maybe all my tinkering fixed the problem, maybe not. Having communications gremlins throughout the vehicle may have cleared the issue after a night thinking about all that had been done. But on the Cayenne's time schedule, not mine. I suspect all the things I did could not have heart anything, I'm convinced that the issue was pretty simple. Isn't it always.
And a note for those who have a problem with the design of the tail light. I like it just fine, matter of fact, it kind of reminds me of an oversize characterization of the original 356 tail light. Talk about bright, and when ya have the fog lights on, the tail lights are even brighter. With all that bare metal at the back of the Cayenne, having some girth to your lights doesn't really overdo the proportions of the whole vehicle.
I haven't said anything about owning this vehicle. If Porsche had built this swiss knife 35 years ago, I'd still be driving it today. What a pleasure to drive, reminds me of what it would be like to pilot a space shuttle, talk about corner. And the manual transmission, what a piece of putty in my hand, silky pretty much describes the gear selection process. For those who have the auto shifter, ya start off in second gear as part of the normal shift pattern. If I'm on a slope, heading up, I always use first to pull away. If the road is level or sloping down, I always use second, as first is really a low gear like a simi grandmaw. Its there for handling loads, without loading the clutch. I also use sport around town as its program makes coming off the clutch in second much more of a natural event.
The spring that loads the gear positioning could use a bit more tension, as with certain harmonics, it will begin to provide its own music. Nothing endearing, so I just tap the lever a bit to the right and all is quite. Those who have one of these know what I mean. Maybe Porsche will see fit to increase the tension a bit, so I don't have to tap the shifter when its wants to sound off.
After our first 8K miles, the engine is beginning to enter its sweet spot. Initially, with only 17 miles on the odo, the sound of the engine above 3500 rpms was something of a strain, unless you needed to really press it for some full ahead response. But now, it really purrs through the full rpm range, what a sweet little inline six. Torque, all that I would ever want, especially when engaging the sport setting. If I wanted more power, and less fuel milage, well any of the V-8's would have been fine. But with highway milage averaging something north of 25 mpg, I'm more than pleased with the performance of this entire vehicle. No doubt when the engine becomes really broken in, the highway milage will improve further.
If I needed to go in more of a hurry, and had $110K to drop on a small commuter vehicle, I suppose the new 4.0L in the 911 would be an obvious ticket. But you just can't beat the comfort of this size vehicle, its off road capabilities, and its on road finness. Me and mine are very happy campers, what a pleasure to tool down the road in such a well sorted out automobile. Even the standard leather is more than
just right for my size frame. Standard seat adjustment, more than adequate. Thank you Porsche Design, this baby is one well fulfilled exercise in driving dynamics.
This proverbial right tail light issue struck last week, or earlier, don't really know how long the tail light has been on the blink. After reading some of the above post, I pulled the fuse, but no obvious issue there, when the fuse was replaced, the right tail light would work fine, until I hit the brake pedal.
I noticed that the fuse was only being scored by its holding device on one side, so I went back in and tightened the teeth that grab the fuse so that it provided better contact. I then went into the compartment behind that tail light and removed the ground wires, polished everything up bright, even shaved off some of the plastic fitting that sets against the body to hold the two ground connectors in a separated fashion. You'll notice this if you pay attention to the details at this connection. The plastic base seemed a bit thick, and could have been keeping the anchor nut from making a better contact.
Testing the right tail light again produced the shame results as above. Light shines when headlight are manually lit, but goes dead after hitting the brake pedal. Soooooo, we shut everything down and called it a day.
Next morning, we're having our first cool front of the season here in south Texas, I'm up early to take the Cayenne in for service, fix the tail light. What do ya know, it works fine. Worked fine all the way to the dealer, maybe 50 miles from the house.
Checking the data storage device in the onboard computer, there was no indication that the system had ever noticed the failed tail light. Well, the dealer changed out the two rear tail light assemblies anyway.
Maybe all my tinkering fixed the problem, maybe not. Having communications gremlins throughout the vehicle may have cleared the issue after a night thinking about all that had been done. But on the Cayenne's time schedule, not mine. I suspect all the things I did could not have heart anything, I'm convinced that the issue was pretty simple. Isn't it always.
And a note for those who have a problem with the design of the tail light. I like it just fine, matter of fact, it kind of reminds me of an oversize characterization of the original 356 tail light. Talk about bright, and when ya have the fog lights on, the tail lights are even brighter. With all that bare metal at the back of the Cayenne, having some girth to your lights doesn't really overdo the proportions of the whole vehicle.
I haven't said anything about owning this vehicle. If Porsche had built this swiss knife 35 years ago, I'd still be driving it today. What a pleasure to drive, reminds me of what it would be like to pilot a space shuttle, talk about corner. And the manual transmission, what a piece of putty in my hand, silky pretty much describes the gear selection process. For those who have the auto shifter, ya start off in second gear as part of the normal shift pattern. If I'm on a slope, heading up, I always use first to pull away. If the road is level or sloping down, I always use second, as first is really a low gear like a simi grandmaw. Its there for handling loads, without loading the clutch. I also use sport around town as its program makes coming off the clutch in second much more of a natural event.
The spring that loads the gear positioning could use a bit more tension, as with certain harmonics, it will begin to provide its own music. Nothing endearing, so I just tap the lever a bit to the right and all is quite. Those who have one of these know what I mean. Maybe Porsche will see fit to increase the tension a bit, so I don't have to tap the shifter when its wants to sound off.
After our first 8K miles, the engine is beginning to enter its sweet spot. Initially, with only 17 miles on the odo, the sound of the engine above 3500 rpms was something of a strain, unless you needed to really press it for some full ahead response. But now, it really purrs through the full rpm range, what a sweet little inline six. Torque, all that I would ever want, especially when engaging the sport setting. If I wanted more power, and less fuel milage, well any of the V-8's would have been fine. But with highway milage averaging something north of 25 mpg, I'm more than pleased with the performance of this entire vehicle. No doubt when the engine becomes really broken in, the highway milage will improve further.
If I needed to go in more of a hurry, and had $110K to drop on a small commuter vehicle, I suppose the new 4.0L in the 911 would be an obvious ticket. But you just can't beat the comfort of this size vehicle, its off road capabilities, and its on road finness. Me and mine are very happy campers, what a pleasure to tool down the road in such a well sorted out automobile. Even the standard leather is more than
just right for my size frame. Standard seat adjustment, more than adequate. Thank you Porsche Design, this baby is one well fulfilled exercise in driving dynamics.
09-07-2011, 05:54 PM
#18
Just call me Pops
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Did your tail light issue get replaced by the dealer or not?
P.S. Welcome to RL P!G Pen, btw. We are a really friendly, fun-loving bunch
, so don't get discouraged and start a new "Hi, I'm new here" thread with lots of photos 
09-07-2011, 06:41 PM
#20
Race Director
Although new to this forum, our 2011 Cayenne finally arrived last December, July 28 to Dec 21 is quite a long wait. Its the base model with 6-speed manual, and a few things to make it a useful tool in the out back.
This proverbial right tail light issue struck last week, or earlier, don't really know how long the tail light has been on the blink. After reading some of the above post, I pulled the fuse, but no obvious issue there, when the fuse was replaced, the right tail light would work fine, until I hit the brake pedal.
I noticed that the fuse was only being scored by its holding device on one side, so I went back in and tightened the teeth that grab the fuse so that it provided better contact. I then went into the compartment behind that tail light and removed the ground wires, polished everything up bright, even shaved off some of the plastic fitting that sets against the body to hold the two ground connectors in a separated fashion. You'll notice this if you pay attention to the details at this connection. The plastic base seemed a bit thick, and could have been keeping the anchor nut from making a better contact.
Testing the right tail light again produced the shame results as above. Light shines when headlight are manually lit, but goes dead after hitting the brake pedal. Soooooo, we shut everything down and called it a day.
Next morning, we're having our first cool front of the season here in south Texas, I'm up early to take the Cayenne in for service, fix the tail light. What do ya know, it works fine. Worked fine all the way to the dealer, maybe 50 miles from the house.
Checking the data storage device in the onboard computer, there was no indication that the system had ever noticed the failed tail light. Well, the dealer changed out the two rear tail light assemblies anyway.
Maybe all my tinkering fixed the problem, maybe not. Having communications gremlins throughout the vehicle may have cleared the issue after a night thinking about all that had been done. But on the Cayenne's time schedule, not mine. I suspect all the things I did could not have heart anything, I'm convinced that the issue was pretty simple. Isn't it always.
And a note for those who have a problem with the design of the tail light. I like it just fine, matter of fact, it kind of reminds me of an oversize characterization of the original 356 tail light. Talk about bright, and when ya have the fog lights on, the tail lights are even brighter. With all that bare metal at the back of the Cayenne, having some girth to your lights doesn't really overdo the proportions of the whole vehicle.
I haven't said anything about owning this vehicle. If Porsche had built this swiss knife 35 years ago, I'd still be driving it today. What a pleasure to drive, reminds me of what it would be like to pilot a space shuttle, talk about corner. And the manual transmission, what a piece of putty in my hand, silky pretty much describes the gear selection process. For those who have the auto shifter, ya start off in second gear as part of the normal shift pattern. If I'm on a slope, heading up, I always use first to pull away. If the road is level or sloping down, I always use second, as first is really a low gear like a simi grandmaw. Its there for handling loads, without loading the clutch. I also use sport around town as its program makes coming off the clutch in second much more of a natural event.
The spring that loads the gear positioning could use a bit more tension, as with certain harmonics, it will begin to provide its own music. Nothing endearing, so I just tap the lever a bit to the right and all is quite. Those who have one of these know what I mean. Maybe Porsche will see fit to increase the tension a bit, so I don't have to tap the shifter when its wants to sound off.
After our first 8K miles, the engine is beginning to enter its sweet spot. Initially, with only 17 miles on the odo, the sound of the engine above 3500 rpms was something of a strain, unless you needed to really press it for some full ahead response. But now, it really purrs through the full rpm range, what a sweet little inline six. Torque, all that I would ever want, especially when engaging the sport setting. If I wanted more power, and less fuel milage, well any of the V-8's would have been fine. But with highway milage averaging something north of 25 mpg, I'm more than pleased with the performance of this entire vehicle. No doubt when the engine becomes really broken in, the highway milage will improve further.
If I needed to go in more of a hurry, and had $110K to drop on a small commuter vehicle, I suppose the new 4.0L in the 911 would be an obvious ticket. But you just can't beat the comfort of this size vehicle, its off road capabilities, and its on road finness. Me and mine are very happy campers, what a pleasure to tool down the road in such a well sorted out automobile. Even the standard leather is more than
just right for my size frame. Standard seat adjustment, more than adequate. Thank you Porsche Design, this baby is one well fulfilled exercise in driving dynamics.
This proverbial right tail light issue struck last week, or earlier, don't really know how long the tail light has been on the blink. After reading some of the above post, I pulled the fuse, but no obvious issue there, when the fuse was replaced, the right tail light would work fine, until I hit the brake pedal.
I noticed that the fuse was only being scored by its holding device on one side, so I went back in and tightened the teeth that grab the fuse so that it provided better contact. I then went into the compartment behind that tail light and removed the ground wires, polished everything up bright, even shaved off some of the plastic fitting that sets against the body to hold the two ground connectors in a separated fashion. You'll notice this if you pay attention to the details at this connection. The plastic base seemed a bit thick, and could have been keeping the anchor nut from making a better contact.
Testing the right tail light again produced the shame results as above. Light shines when headlight are manually lit, but goes dead after hitting the brake pedal. Soooooo, we shut everything down and called it a day.
Next morning, we're having our first cool front of the season here in south Texas, I'm up early to take the Cayenne in for service, fix the tail light. What do ya know, it works fine. Worked fine all the way to the dealer, maybe 50 miles from the house.
Checking the data storage device in the onboard computer, there was no indication that the system had ever noticed the failed tail light. Well, the dealer changed out the two rear tail light assemblies anyway.
Maybe all my tinkering fixed the problem, maybe not. Having communications gremlins throughout the vehicle may have cleared the issue after a night thinking about all that had been done. But on the Cayenne's time schedule, not mine. I suspect all the things I did could not have heart anything, I'm convinced that the issue was pretty simple. Isn't it always.
And a note for those who have a problem with the design of the tail light. I like it just fine, matter of fact, it kind of reminds me of an oversize characterization of the original 356 tail light. Talk about bright, and when ya have the fog lights on, the tail lights are even brighter. With all that bare metal at the back of the Cayenne, having some girth to your lights doesn't really overdo the proportions of the whole vehicle.
I haven't said anything about owning this vehicle. If Porsche had built this swiss knife 35 years ago, I'd still be driving it today. What a pleasure to drive, reminds me of what it would be like to pilot a space shuttle, talk about corner. And the manual transmission, what a piece of putty in my hand, silky pretty much describes the gear selection process. For those who have the auto shifter, ya start off in second gear as part of the normal shift pattern. If I'm on a slope, heading up, I always use first to pull away. If the road is level or sloping down, I always use second, as first is really a low gear like a simi grandmaw. Its there for handling loads, without loading the clutch. I also use sport around town as its program makes coming off the clutch in second much more of a natural event.
The spring that loads the gear positioning could use a bit more tension, as with certain harmonics, it will begin to provide its own music. Nothing endearing, so I just tap the lever a bit to the right and all is quite. Those who have one of these know what I mean. Maybe Porsche will see fit to increase the tension a bit, so I don't have to tap the shifter when its wants to sound off.
After our first 8K miles, the engine is beginning to enter its sweet spot. Initially, with only 17 miles on the odo, the sound of the engine above 3500 rpms was something of a strain, unless you needed to really press it for some full ahead response. But now, it really purrs through the full rpm range, what a sweet little inline six. Torque, all that I would ever want, especially when engaging the sport setting. If I wanted more power, and less fuel milage, well any of the V-8's would have been fine. But with highway milage averaging something north of 25 mpg, I'm more than pleased with the performance of this entire vehicle. No doubt when the engine becomes really broken in, the highway milage will improve further.
If I needed to go in more of a hurry, and had $110K to drop on a small commuter vehicle, I suppose the new 4.0L in the 911 would be an obvious ticket. But you just can't beat the comfort of this size vehicle, its off road capabilities, and its on road finness. Me and mine are very happy campers, what a pleasure to tool down the road in such a well sorted out automobile. Even the standard leather is more than
just right for my size frame. Standard seat adjustment, more than adequate. Thank you Porsche Design, this baby is one well fulfilled exercise in driving dynamics.
09-07-2011, 06:45 PM
#21
Just call me Pops
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
Bill, unlike me, you are a brave pioneer, who managed to get through that wall of text. I'm not used to reading anything longer than the allowed limit my iPhone sets for text messages 
09-07-2011, 09:12 PM
#24
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OvrTHhill...
You did say "inline six" in your post, correct?
If so, congratulations.
Before your post, I had always assumed that the 6 cylinder Cayenne was built with the VW VR6 engine (which IIRC is a 10deg design without balance shafts), but evidently the mythical inline 6 has made a rare appearance since last being seen on the 2007 US Cayenne.
The Cayenne inline six has a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds, although this is an unofficial time since our forum Chronologist (Riley) has not yet tested this one yet...
You did say "inline six" in your post, correct?
If so, congratulations.
Before your post, I had always assumed that the 6 cylinder Cayenne was built with the VW VR6 engine (which IIRC is a 10deg design without balance shafts), but evidently the mythical inline 6 has made a rare appearance since last being seen on the 2007 US Cayenne.
The Cayenne inline six has a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds, although this is an unofficial time since our forum Chronologist (Riley) has not yet tested this one yet...
09-07-2011, 10:27 PM
#26
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OvrTHhill...
You did say "inline six" in your post, correct?
If so, congratulations.
Before your post, I had always assumed that the 6 cylinder Cayenne was built with the VW VR6 engine (which IIRC is a 10deg design without balance shafts), but evidently the mythical inline 6 has made a rare appearance since last being seen on the 2007 US Cayenne.
The Cayenne inline six has a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds, although this is an unofficial time since our forum Chronologist (Riley) has not yet tested this one yet...
You did say "inline six" in your post, correct?
If so, congratulations.
Before your post, I had always assumed that the 6 cylinder Cayenne was built with the VW VR6 engine (which IIRC is a 10deg design without balance shafts), but evidently the mythical inline 6 has made a rare appearance since last being seen on the 2007 US Cayenne.
The Cayenne inline six has a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds, although this is an unofficial time since our forum Chronologist (Riley) has not yet tested this one yet...
"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you."
09-08-2011, 10:43 AM
#27
Race Director
Let's hope the OP reads more than just his own thread in this forum otherwise we'll have scared off another one.
09-08-2011, 11:57 AM
#29
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